Written by

Larry Phillips

CentralOhio.com

Clemson quarter Tajh Boyd, right, greets Ohio State freshman safety Vonn Bell, after the Orange Bowl. Bell figures to be one of the younger Buckeyes that will dot the 2014 defense. / AP Photo

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COLUMBUS — An unusual metamorphosis is taking place at Ohio State.

Two years ago, coach Urban Meyer inherited a 6-7 team and NCAA sanctions denied his first team the opportunity to play in the postseason, which probably cost the Buckeyes a national title date with Notre Dame, and scholarship reductions hindered recruiting.

The offense was abysmal, the staff in flux, and Meyer simply was trying to stay afloat. His 12-0 record that year is a testament to his coaching acumen.

This past season, the Buckeyes rode a 24-game winning streak that featured a second-consecutive undefeated run through the Big Ten Conference regular season. That led to an odd conundrum.

While the Ohio State defense showed its vulnerability, the Buckeyes kept winning. Meyer and his staff were reluctant to play youngsters while winning with upperclassmen. When the campaign ended with a thud, a disastrous defense was fully revealed.

In the Orange Bowl loss to Clemson, true freshman safety Vonn Bell made an acrobatic goal-line interception that had many people questioning why he wasn’t playing far more and far earlier. Bell was the poster boy for a class that also was highly rated, but wound up having limited impact in 2013.

Freshman defensive lineman Joey Bosa was by far the best first-year player, and he worked his way into a starting spot. Freshman speedster Dontre Wilson showed spurts of electricity, but he was thrown out of the Michigan game and was a nonfactor in the final two losses.

Those two were the highlights from what was considered a consensus top-five haul in 2013. During a National Signing Day news conference, Meyer acknowledged the coaches and players were both to blame for not developing those highly regarded players.

Receiver Jalin Marshall, cornerback Gareon Conley and linebacker Mike Mitchell were among a group most figured would have been contributors. Instead, they were redshirted.

That decision looks like it cost the Buckeyes dearly. Internet reports during the weekend indicated Mitchell will transfer to be close to his ailing father. Who knows if playing time this past season, particularly at a position that dramatically underperformed, would have altered his mindset.

In turn, his younger brother Mickey, a highly-rated recruit for the basketball team, also can be scratched.

Meanwhile, this year’s football recruiting class includes linebacker Raekwon McMillan, the Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker. Some consider safety Erick Smith as Ohio’s top high school senior and Meyer said he “has to play” this year. Akron linebacker Dante Booker won Ohio’s Mr. Football Award, the first defensive player since Andy Katzenmoyer to turn that trick. Scout.com rated Cincinnati Moeller’s Sam Hubbard as the state’s best player and, at 6-foot-6, he offers myriad possibilities from safety to outside linebacker to defensive end.

That group will fuel a new agenda. They are just in time because a new dynamic is in play. The staff has no reason to feel honor-bound to upperclassmen. There is no winning streak for an elder player to point to and say, “We’re getting it done, why change it?”

The opposite is true. The Buckeyes are riding a two-game losing streak. The defense was riddled by woeful Illinois, then Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Clemson in a dizzying and disappointing finish to the season.

Change is expected, especially on defense. With Chris Ash as a new coordinator — make no mistake this will be his defense not Luke Fickell’s (despite their titles) — and Penn State veteran Larry Johnson as the defensive line coach, a fresh approach will be introduced. Those who do not embrace it can find the sidelines or the door.

No one argues about the level of talent rolling through the system. No other program in the Midwest can touch the Buckeyes in recruiting.

Now it’s time to see it, coach it, and let it display the abilities we’ve been told about but haven’t really witnessed.